♪ host: this is dw news live from berlin. tonight, tropical storm harvey moves further inland, leaving whole cities underwater as scientists say record-breaking rains are a result of climate change. countless residents in texas have been driven from their homes as a result of flooding. forecasters say harvey is slowly losing strength. we will get an update. also coming up, what will donald trump do about north korea? first, he says talking is not

the answer. then his defense secretary keeps the diplomatic door open. matt damon is the first star to tread the red carpet at a this year's venice film festival. the opening film is the one he stars in. it is called "downsizing," and it is hoping to be upsized into a contender for the oscars. brent: i am brent goff. it is good to have you with us. tonight, tropical storm harvey is turning on louisiana. after the apocalyptic flooding in texas, the people in the neighboring state are battening down the hatches. in houston, water levels have started to recede slightly, but authorities are pressing ahead with around-the-clock operations to rescue people who are still trapped by the flood.

>> with huge areas underwater, rescuers are racing to save lives. a mother and baby are hoisted to the safety of a coast guard helicopter. in houston, a local church has become an impromptu aid center as residents collected donations for those who have lost everything. but at thousands of emergency shelters, there are reports of looting and armed robbery. the mayor has issued a curfew. a police officer died when he was trapped in a flooded patrol car under an overpass. >> it was too treacherous to go under and look for him. we made a decision to leave officers they are waiting until morning, because as much as we wanted to recover him last night, we could not put more officers at risk. reporter: officials are anxiously watching the storm's progress as it moves slowly

along the golf of mexico toward new orleans. >> we have focused on houston. we have to understand that there are 50 counties impacted right now. we are continuing to watch the situation develop. citizens in louisiana are not in the clear. you are still under evacuation orders. make sure you are heeding those warnings. reporter: the scale of one of the biggest natural disasters in u.s. history is still growing. new orleans is bracing for heavy rains and possible flash flooding. brent: we want to go to our correspondent at the houston convention or center that convention center. good afternoon, alexandra. the storm has passed but people there are still in urgent need. what are they telling you? alexander: many told me they are

happy and relieved to be in a shelter, to have a place to stay, to sleep, to have dry clothes on. the problem is many people are angry and frustrated because they don't know what to do next, where to move. are they going to get the help they really need? some of them are very traumatized. i talked to a mother of four and she told me she was waiting for eight hours for a rescue team, standing in ways taiwan water, holding her kids, -- in waist high water, holding her kids, and she told me she thought she would die. brent: we understand the city of houston has imposed a curfew because of looting. what has been going on in the city? alexandra: we talked to houston's police chief today,

and he told us that the first night went pretty well, that residents observed the curfew, and that the police did not have to make any arrests. the curfew was imposed to prevent robberies and a looting, and to allow rescue workers to work. actually, we were traveling across the city, getting back to our hotel last night about 2:00 a.m., and we were stopped by police. when they learned we were journalists, they let us go, but the streets were totally empty. brent: you talk to a lot of people and a lot of the people you talked to, their homes have been flooded and they have no insurance. will they get help from the u.s. government? alexandra: the federal emergency management agency is here on the

ground trying to provide people with financial aid. the purpose is to get them out of the shelters into temporary housing near places where they work. finally, they should be able to rebuild their houses or rent apartments. we have to keep in mind this is a huge challenge with tens of thousands of people who might rely on federal aid, and fema has faced a lot of lot of criticism, in the aftermath of hurricane katrina, for example, so we will have to see if they are up to the task. brent: that remains to be seen. i think everyone in houston would agree with you on that. alexandra, thank you. in syria, the u.s. coalition battling islamic state has launched airstrikes. hundreds of i.s. fighters and

their families have been bused to eastern syria in the past few days. it is part of a truce deal with hezbollah. brett mcgurk has blasted the deal. he wrote on twitter -- the i.s. fighters should be killed on the battlefield in stead. a day after north korea fired a ballistic missile over japan, donald trump says talking is not to be answer in dealing with pyongyang's weapons program, but his defense secretary, james mattis, swiftly rejected those claims in a meeting with his japanese counterpart at the pentagon. matt has said the u.s. is never out of diplomatic options. japan is pushing to impose new u.s. sanctions on north korea. for more i am point by jim wallis, a senior researcher on

u.s. studies. trump's own man at the pentagon saying there are diplomatic measures on the table if we want them. what can the world international community do right now? guest: unfortunately, it is up to two main players, the united states and north korea, and both governments have sent deeply confusing and mixed signals. both the north koreans and the americans have sent to signals that are open to diplomacy, prefer negotiation, are happy to talk, and at the same time they threaten retaliation. it is hard to know which is which. even donald trump himself in arizona a week ago at a rally was talking about -- well,

seemed to hint at diplomatic possibilities. on the other hand, north korea said it was going to wait and see on missile tests and then did one of its most provocative missile tests in quite some time. i think it's hard for either side to know what the other side 's intentions are. brent: what about the notion of sanctions? we had a round of sanctions recently that has barely begun to take effect. japan is pushing for more sanctions. can sanctions work? a lot of people watching the story are wondering why haven't you passed all the sanctions you can in the first place? guest: you put your finger on something important. what does it mean for sanctions to work? sanctions have a mixed record. it's not a magic wand. but if you are trying to get north korea to stop its missile

tests, it seems to me that any observer of the recent two or three years should conclude they can build more capable missiles faster than we can impose sanctions that would impede that program. there are different reasons for it. some are structural. north korea sits next to the biggest economy in the world in china. some of it has to do with sanctions and whether they are implemented. north korea is not just laying there taking the sanctions. they are responding, implementing, -- innovating, coming up with countermeasures. sanctions have some impact. but i don't think it's likely to stop a nuclear missile test in the near term. brent: if you are looking at this and seeing china over the corner of your eye, shouldn't the u.s. be taking this missile test over japan to beijing and saying look, do you see how

serious it has become? it's time for you to use the influence you have on p.m. yang -- on pyongyang? guest: i think beijing is probably pretty aware of how bad this is. it's not only bad for the u.s. and japan, it's that for china when north korea does this. china doesn't like this. it has told north korea not to do this. in part because, when they do this, it is strengthens right-wing forces in north korea, including those that support nuclear weapons. brent: jim walsh with mit's security studies program joining us tonight to talk about what to do with north korea. thank you very much. here are some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. the united states has admitted it has far more troops in afghanistan than previously stated. defense officials say there are

about 11,000 soldiers currently in the country. the pentagon said last year there were roughly 8400 troops under a cap set during the administration -- obama administration. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights voiced concerns over derogatory remarks made by joh donald trump about journalists and the media. he warned they could incite violence against journalists and other communities. in saudi arabia, muslims have begun the pilgrimage to mecca. the hage is islam's most holy site. observant muslims are required to perform the hage at least once in their lifetime. around 18,000 muslims have fled fresh violence in myanmar in

less than a week. human rights groups say myanmar's army has retaliated for last week's attacks by rohingya militants by burning them villages and shooting civilians. reporter: a stalemate at myanmar's border with bangladesh. the stateless minority rohingya are hoping to get into bangladesh. border police are here to stop them. those who make it across the border have to wait here at this camp. the international organization for migration says about 18,000 rohingya have crossed into bangladesh. the rohingya say civilians are being targeted by myanmar security forces. the myanmar government is torturing us, and we cannot tolerate the torture, so we had to come here. we left our homes and stayed at the border for two days.

the bn marco government dropped bombs from helicopters, killed our children -- myanmar government dropped bombs from helicopters, killed our children, burned our houses, so this morning we entered bangladesh. reporter: resources here are scarce. a fighter reps over small packets of food. -- fight erupts over small packets of food. the rohingya say this is better than what they have escaped. violence broke out last week after rohingya militants attacked several police stations. myanmar security responded with force, pushing civilians to the border. the united nations, while condemning the militants' attacks, has put pressure on myanmar to save civilians lives. >> we will ensure that any

person who participates in the financing and perpetration of terrorist acts is brought to justice. reporter: with bangladesh toughening border controls, those in no man's land are stuck. with nowhere to go and know where to return to. brent: the u.n. secretary-general has wrapped up his first trip to israel and the palestinian territories. the u.n. faces challenges there on all fronts. let's take a look at a few of them. first, gaza, where people are facing a growing humanitarian crisis. palestinian territories remain devastated by the war with israel a few years ago. many gazans still have no access to medical care. a peacekeeping force is under pressure from israel to do more to secure the border region with lebanon and to stop has below

from -- hezbollah from building its weapons arsenal. the u.n. also faces frequent criticism from israel. benjamin netanyahu has frequently said the u.n. is biased against the jewish state. on monday, he released a statement saying -- the u.n. secretary-general ended his tour of israel and the palestinian territories in gaza, which happens to be heavily dependent on u.n. aid. >> he made his way into one of several schools in gaza. before addressing the media, he met with students and families, as well as u.n. staff, to get a first-hand glimpse of living conditions in the region. about one million gazans with refugee status depend on humanitarian aid from the united nations. the jobless rate him on young

adults is 60%. hundreds of thousands of children attend u.n. run schools. u.n. assistance has been nothing short of a lifeline in gaza, but the secretary-general says the long-term solution is not more backing from the world body, but a resolution of the israeli-palestinian conflict, namely, an independent palestinian state alongside israel. >> i believe the holy land should have two states, israel and palestine, living in peace and harmony together. reporter: the u.n. has provided an additional $4 million in emergency aid to gaza. water and electricity are in short supply. brent: business news now. a quarrel between -- what? >> let me fill you in on the

details. air berlin has received state aid but a buyer is still up in the air and a dispute between carriers continues. some are unhappy about live tons as plans to buy big parts of the airline -- lufthansa's plans to buy big parts of the airline. the chief executive accused lufthansa and air berlin of conspiracy. >> he is a loose cannon who likes posing for the cameras. observers thought airbus came to berlin to make a buyout of air berlin, but they were wrong. instead, he leveled heavy criticism of the german government, lufthansa, and air berlin. >> we see a succession of german politicians falling over themselves to reward air

berlin-lufthansa, calling lufthansa german champion, and because of that, it should be able to take over 95% of the domestic market, making it not just a champion, but a monster that will increase the cost of air travel. >> he accuses air berlin and lufthansa of conspiracy, claiming air berlin's bankruptcy was setup to allow left anza to take over a debt free airline, putting other -- lufthansa to take over a debt-free airline, putting other carriers at a disadvantage. air berlin is giving investors time to make their offers until mid-september when the bidding closes. >> with the u.s. economy grew at the fastest pace in two years in the second quarter. robust consumer spending and business investment have surged gdp to an annual rate of 3%.

this marks the first time the u.s. economic growth rate has hit this target since donald trump took office. economists don't expect growth to sustain at this level and warned that tropical storm harvey could weigh on the economy in the coming months. time to look at wall street. good numbers. the economy growing at a healthy pace. but what about jobs? >> of the numbers here were good as well. the private sector created 230 7000 new jobs, way more than expected, and a significant improvement over july. job creation seems strong across all industries and companies. let me add one thing to the gdp number. this is the second estimated number, the final one. early on wednesday, warren

buffett was asked if the american economy feels like it is growing at a 3% rate and he said no. to him, it feels more like 2% growth. >> donald trump could use positive news when it comes to tax reform. how is he faring? any details? >> investors were listening with high expectations, hoping to see some details. economic reform is part of the main reason businesses were supportive of him in the first place. we heard big promises like big paychecks, happy, free americans, unleashing america's full potential. he also pledged to make the tax code easier with fewer loopholes , tax relief for the middle class and to bring back tax

dollars parked overseas to the united states. but how is he going to pay for this? >> good question. thank you so much. mexico is seriously worried the united states will withdrawal from -- withdraw from nafta. the united states has -- donald trump has promised several times to withdraw from the agreement. the next round of talks are set for friday and may be an impasse. >> the deal between the u.s., mexico, and canada is the most valuable trade pact in the world, worth around a trillion dollars a year, and mexico knows it. sensing trouble ahead of friday's round of negotiations, the country's minister defended the deal's future, well aware he has a fight on his hands. >> this won't be easy.

the start of negotiations is like a roller coaster. there will be good days, bad days, and worse days. fortunately, the mexican economy understands that negotiation is not resolved in 140 two characters. a thinly veiled reference to the u.s. president's personal brand of diplomacy. a series of tweets, including this one, is putting mexico's patience to the test as the man in the white house threatens to pull the plug on nafta negotiations entirely. in mexico city, those threats are not being taken lightly. >> if you ask me whether it is possible that, given all of these efforts and a very good first round of negotiations that started in washington, which will then continue in mexico city on friday, that there is a possibility of an impasse, of no advancement, this is a possibility that we cannot deny. >> donald trump has long vowed to get a better deal for american workers, and his

threats are not only aimed over the border. u.s. manufacturers considering a move to mexico, he says, will face import tariffs of up to 35% on their products. all part of his campaign trail promise to make america great again. >> that is your business news for now. brent: making movies great again, the 74th venice film festival is increasingly seen as a watch pat for the oscars. it gets underway tonight. some of the most famous names of the big screen are on the red carpet. matt damon made his entrance via water taxi along with costar kristen wake. the oscar winner is among a host of a-list talent appearing at this year's 10 day festival. as usual, the lineup ranges from big-budget hollywood productions to indie favorites and documentaries. >> opening the 74th venice film

festival is alexander payne's "downsizing," starring matt damon. damon is also standing with julianne moore in george clooney's the car when it brothers scripted suburban comedy. tesco and brothers -- cohen brothers scripted suburban comedy. the pace is considerably slower. starring helen marion and donald southerland as a free-spirited couple coming to terms with alzheimer's. >> i don't believe you. a motorcycle without a helmet. who was that guy? >> go to hell. >> moving to the dark side is darren and off skis psychological horror, "mother -- daren aranovsky's

psychological horror, "mother." things quickly go from bad to worse. >> it's never enough. >> if i told you about her, the princess without a voice, what would i say? >> gearmotor euillermo del tor's otherworldly fairytale tells the story of eliza, whose world is changed forever when she discovers a deep connection with a creature in a tank. >> i don't want an intricate, beautiful thing destroyed. >> i'm sorry. >> don't do this. >> it's not even human. brent: it's time to catch up on

the best of spain's la camatimo festival. >> thousands of people turned out to take part in the annual war of tomato flesh, continuing an old and messy tradition. the festival has been held every year since august of 1945. brent: i will be back after a short break to take you through the day. see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

it it's been three years since the so-called umbrella revolution. ever since then, fewer and fewer